Reducing garment



4 L. M. ULLMAN ET AL.

REDUCING GARMENT Filed March 29 1924 By MM 1M A'TTORNE Y ateuted July 1, i924.-

LOUIS M. ULLMAN AND DAVID A. LEDERER, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

REDUCING GARMENT.

Application filed March 29, 1924. Serial in. 702,853.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, LoUIs M. ULLMAN and DAVID A. LEDERER, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city and county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reducing Garments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to a reducing garment and more particularly to a garment which in its structure and in its manner of use resembles somewhat a garment of the corset t pe.

The value of rub er as a material from which to form a garment to be employed for sequent upon wearing such a garment when indulging in work or exercise is well known. The emp oyment of such material for such purposes carries with it, however, certain practical difficulties in both manufacture and use, resulting from the well-known characteristics of sheet rubber on the one hand to stretch, and on the other hand to tear-easily, particularly along a line of puncture.

A garment such as a reducing corset has four factors which must be taken into consideration, namely: (first) that it shall be adjustable to the figure (secondly) that it shall retain the parts of the body adjacent thereto under conditions which will result most effectively in the desired reduction in weight as well as in measure, and (thirdly) that it shall be comfortable to the wearer, and (fourthly) that it shall at the same time serve to carry the hose supporters.

Where we have attempted hitherto to make a garment of this character of two pieces, the ends of which are to be variably spaced and associated along the back as well as along the front as by lacing, hooks and eyes or clasps, the problem incident to the employment of rubber are n'mltiplied because of the difficulties that arise and the points of weakness that ensue, when it is attemptml to anchor, for instance, the structure that is to carry the stays or the hooks and eyes or similar fastening means along four ends, since as already pointed out sheet rubber will tend to tear it punctured, when pressure is applied at such points of puncture as when stitches or eyelets are passed therethrough.

One of the important objects of our invention, therefore, is the provision of a rubber garment simulating a corset which is made of one piece of rubber whereby the adjustment of the garment necessitates the application of strains along only two of the lines along which the strain inducing means are anchored.

In addition to this, where a rubber garment is to take the form of a corset, as contemplated by us, there must be associated with such rubber garment a means for supporting the stockings and the stresses and strains incident to the supporting of the stockings directly from the rubber fabric tend on the one hand to form an unsatisfactory support because of the elastic factor in herent in rubber and on the other hand will tend to weaken and possibly tear the fabric.

Another important object of our invention, therefore, is the provision of an arrangement whereby the hose supporters are anchored from the corset construction in a way that takes the strains and stresses incident to supporting the stocking from being applied directly to the rubber fabric and at the same time distributes it over an extremely wide area.

Furthermore, we have found that the advantages accruing from the employment of rubber as the fabric for the purposes and in the manner suggested, will tend to reduce the weight and consequently the abdomen. These advantages are to some extent counteracted by the fact. that the'manner of associating the stocking sup orters with the reducing garment will ten to produce a bulge at a point-in the garment that is adjacent the abdomen, and where we have attempted to counteract this tendency by associating with the garment a stiffening means, such stiffening means if positioned centrally of the front of the arment will tend to curve outwardly at its ower end when the wearer assumes a sitting position. For the purposes of overcoming these objectionswe have therefore provided an arrangement whereby the hose supporters are so associated with the garment as to cause the front thereof to at all times position itself as to keep the abdomen in its desired state of depression and flatness.

A still further obgcct of our invention is the provision genera ly of a garment of the character set forth, which is simple in construction, durable and effective in use, in expensive to manufacture, and comfortable to the wearer.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, we have illustrated an embodiment of our invention in the drawings wherein 1 Fig. 1 illustrates our garment reducer in position on the wearer;

Fig. 2 is an elcvational view of the rear face of the garment with the garment extended;

Fig. 3 is an elcvational view of part of the garment looking at the front face thereof;

ig. 4 is a horizontal cross-section theretlirough taken on line H of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross-section therethrough taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 illustrates the modified closure means for the garment.

Upon viewing the figures of the drawing, it'will be observed that the body fabric of the garment is made of a single piece and is referabl Y made of a material such as me or gum rubber which material we have found has the characteristics which it is desired a garment of this character is to have. This material, however, at the same time has very little body and therefore is not in any respect what we might term form-sustaining, that is, it will crumple up unless it is supported and its manner of support so as to give its desired shape and contour will be understood as this application is read. The body fabric 10 is provided at its ends with the longitudinally positioned assemblies 11 and 12 which in the form illustrated are provided respectively with longitudinal rows of hooks 11 and eyes 12 which-serve to connect the ends of the body fabric 10 and n1aintain the garment closely about the body. In this manner we maintain the garment in its laterally extended condition and in actual practice the fastening means, that. is, the hooks and eyes are positioned at the front and as will e observed upon viewing Fig. 1 thus present a continuous rear half of the garment and due to the inherent characterlstics of the material there will be a tendency for this rear half to crumplc up or to otherwise not maintain its intended position. To meet this situation, it will be observed that we associate with the rear half of the garment, the assembly to which we have ap plied the reference character 13 and which I as a Whole is inthe form of a reinforcing construction which while it on the one hand gives to the body as the body is twisted, turned and bent, will at the same time tend to remain at all times in its position of longitudinal extension, and will return thereto when bent therefrom and will therefore at the same time tend to so maintain the body and will also tend to compress or depress the abdomen in contact with which it is positioned.

.These garments must necessarily have associated with them some means of supportmg the hose as is generally employed in the conventional type of corset and we have found that the tendency of these hose supporters, or at least of some of them, is to cause a bulge of the corset in the front, which is extremely undesirable. In addition, we have discovered that there will be a tendency for the lower end of the assemblies 11 and 12 to buckle outwardly whenever the wearer assumes a sitting position which will not only minimize the efiects of the corset as a whole, but will detract from the outward appearance thereof.

pon viewing the figures of the drawings, it will be observed that we have eliminated these objections by associating two of the supporters 14, 14 directly with the longitudinal assemblies 11 and 12 so that on the one hand the supporters do not cause a bulge along the corset front, and on the other hand these supporters maintain the assembly in the longitudinally extended position. he supporters 15, 15 are supported from the garment from a position interimzdiate the assemblies 11, 12 and 13 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. 2

Upon viewing Fig. 5, it will be observed that we here show the detailed construction of the assemblies which form the side edges 0 the garment and which carry the fastcning means which in the embodiment illustrated are in the form of hooks and eyes. Each of these assemblies comprises generally two superposed layers of fabric 20 and 21 secured together at their outer ends as shown at 22 by inturnin the end, passing a row of stitches through t 10 layers and along the outer edge, and at their inner ends as shown by inturning the ends 23 and 24 and securing them together and about the end of the body fabric 10 in any desired or preferred manner as by rows of stitches and 25. It will be observed that we have positioned a strip of friction cloth 26, the strip being secured to the body fabric 10 by adhesion and bein in turn made part of the assembly now eing described in a manner that will be understood as this figure is observed. The superposed fabrics 2H and :21' are secured together at spaced points intermediate their edges and longitudinally there of as by stitches 27 and 28, thus on the one and securing these layers together at the oints indicated and on the other hand orming three longitudinal sections 30, 81 and 32, the outermost one of which forms hooks or the eyes and another pocket with in which is received a resilient strip 33 preferably made of extremely flexible steel. the function of which is to keep the fabric lon loo such rows being illustrated in the drawing:

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gitudinally extended ale at the same time permitting 0t a re y yielding to the chan s in the positions in the various parts of t e body. Upon viewing-the left end of Fig. 3, it will be observed that the strip 38 extends only part way down from the corset top. The assembly of both ends may be made of the same character and the description of one suffices for the other.

The assembl 13 longitudinally of the arment is ma e as follows: Upon viewing igs. 3 and 4, it will be observed that we provide upon one face of the corset an attachment 13 which comprises a superposed layer of fabric 41 which is secured to the body fabric 10 by a plurality of rows of" longitudinally extending stitches 43, four The stitches not only serve to secure the fa ric layer'41 to the body fabric 10 but also form a number of pockets, the outer ones of which in the illustrated embodiment serve the garment. Upon viewing Fig. 4, it will be observed that a strip of fabric 44 is interposed between each strap 45 and the body fabric 10 and that the ends of the .fabric 41 are turned under as at 42 and placed in the plane of thestrips 44. A strip 49 of friction material is adhesively secured to the opposite face of the body fabric 10 and the stitches 43 passed therethrough. These supporters 14, 14 are attached directly to the assemblies 11 and 12 by rows of'stitches 52 pass completel through the assembly which as wel as through t e bod fabric 10 and the friction strip 49, whic action is permitted-by the fact that the steel corsets do not extend down thus far. The remaining supporters 15, 15 are referably attached di rectly to the body fa ric by stitches which pass therethrough as well as throu h friction strips 55, 55 adhesivel secure to the opposite faces of the body abric and longitudinally thereof from top to bottom and at intermediate points, all as indicated in the drawings. I

From the. description thus far given, it will be observed that the invention provides for taking off as much of the strains and stresses as possible and for this reason we have pointed out how we employ friction strips adjacent all pointsthrou h which stitches are to be applied. In a dition to this, it will be observed thatwe have provided an arrangement whereby the fabrlc is maintained not onl in its laterall extended position but also in its longitu inall extended position both along its edges an also centrally longitudinally of its front; It will also be observed how we have associated 1 the supporters and the longitudinally cen- 1 hand prevented and an outward bulging of 12 the lower endot the'assemblies 11 an prevented. I

It 'will'he observed that in the embodiment ot the invention thus far described that we have emplo ed hooks and e 'es as the fastening means an we have toun that this character of fastening means does not require a rigid support as is derived tromfa steel strap but can be secured in position for practical purposes in the manner set forth. Therefore, in describing the employment'in this embodiment of the steel straps 33, it will be understood that these straps 33 are merely for giving to the assemblies 11 and 12 a more rigid conformation and that these straps can be dispensed with where desired, the multiple layers of which the assemblies 11 and 12 are made up bein sufficient within limits for giving the adde stifl'ness desired may be made in all respects like the as;

semblies 11 and 12 describedin connection with the first embodiment. half of the outermost pocket rovided in the In the upper section 30, we place a flexib e construction which comprises the flexible strap extending from substantially'the corset top to a; point adjacent the center line of the assemly and superpose thereon and attach thereto a similar strap 53 of much shorter length;

and with its lower co-termimts with that of the strap 52 but with its upper end falling considerably short of the upper end of the strap 52, and to these superposed straps we attach and secure the co-acting clasp ele- I ments 54, 55, and in this manner we not only provide for an ample support for the clasp construction but also provide for a greater degree of stiffness intermediate the upper and lower ends of the assembly and for a decreased degree at the upper end of the assembl and for a still further decrease in sti ness and consequent increase in flexibility at the lower half of the assembly. In short, theembodiment of Fig. 6 provides not onlyforia hook and eye arrangement at the lower half and a clasp arran ement at the upper half but also provi es for a gradation in the flexibilit of these front assemblies with the most e ective action for the purposes intended and at the same time secures to the wearer the greatest comfort.

It will be observed that one of the important features of the construction herein described resides in the provision in a re-- of rubber of a the front and the adjustment ducing corset made wholly single closure positioned at of a type which permits of of the corset to the wearer in the shortest time and with the least effort. In addition, the association of the two types of fasteners as in Fig. 6 carries out this idea still more effectively.

Having thus described our invention and illustrated its use, what We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isa new article of manufacture, a closed-back, open-front rubber reducingcorset comprising a body-strip consisting of a single length of sheet-rubber with its ends positloned adjacent to each other at the front of the corset, reinforcing strips adhesively secured to the inner faces of the respective ends of the said body-strip and extending from the upper to the lower edges thereof, multiple-layer assembly-strips, each having its layers separated at its inner edge and receiving between said layers an end of the rubber body-strip and a reinforcing strip to both of which the ed es of the said layers are stitched, metal astening-devices carried by the said assembly-strips for fastening the ends of the corset together, a reinforcing strip adhesively secured to the inner face of the body-strip midway the length thereof and extending from the upper to the lower edge thereof, a stay-casin strip applied to the outer face of the bodystrip midway the length thereof and extending from its upper to its lower edge and anchored to the reinforcing strip last mentioned by stitching passing through the rubber body-strip, stays located in the said staycasing strip, reinforcing strips adhesively secured to the inner face of tie body-strip substantially midway between the center and ends thereof, and extending from its upper to its lower edge, hose supporters secured to the lower ends of the said assembly-strips, whereby the draft of the said supporters is removed from the body-strip and devolved upon the said assembly-strips and the same are drawn flat over the abdomen and prevented from buckling, and hose supporters applied to the lower ends of the said intermediate strips, whereby the strain is devolved upon them, instead of upon the sheet-rubber body-strip.

s a new article of manufacture, a closed-back, open-front rubber reducingcorset comprising a body-strip consisting of a single length of sheet-rubber with its ends positioned adjacent to each other at the front of the corset, reinforcing-strips adhesively secured to the inner faces of the respective ends of the said body-strip and extending from the upper to the lower edges thereof, multiple-layer assembly-strips, each having its layers separated at its inner edge and receiving between the said layers an end of the said rubber body-strip and a reinforcing strip, to both of which the edges of the said layers are stitched, stays located in the upper ends of the respective assembly-strips, clasps mounted in the stays of one assembly strip, complementary studs mounted in the stays of the other assembly strip, coniplcinentary hooks and eyes mounted in the respective assen'lbly-strips below and in line with the said pairs of stays therein, a reinforcing strip adhesively secured to the inner face of the body-strip midway the length thereof and extendin from the upper to the lower edge the-roof a stay-casing strip applied to the outer face of the body-strip nndway the length thereof and stitched through the rubber bodystrip to the reinforcing strip last mentioned, stays located in the said stay-easing strip, and hosesupporters secured to the lower ends of the respective assembly-strips, whereby the draft of the said supporters is removed from the body-strip and devolved upon the said assembly-strips and whereby the same are drawn flat over the abdomen and prevented from buckling.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto signed our names.

LOUIS M. ULLMANM DAVID A. LEDERER. 

